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Post by rosemary on Oct 8, 2007 21:45:56 GMT -5
I have had my Santha now for about 6 months and have made several batches of milk and dark chocolate. I find that the final weight of the chocolate I produce is about 35% less than the weight of the ingredients I put into the Santha.... I do make quite a mess when I do this so some of it goes down the sink, and some of it gets eaten, but I'm sure it's not as much as 35%. I have looked for information on weight loss due to reduced moisture content, but it seems that this couldn't possibly account for 35% either. So what is this due to?
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Post by Sebastian on Oct 9, 2007 5:56:11 GMT -5
either inaccurate weighing or you're losing more than you think you're losing
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Post by Brad on Oct 10, 2007 1:20:06 GMT -5
How much chocolate are you making?
If you're making 3lb, it isn't hard to account for as much as 1lb: 4-6 oz waste in the machine and on/in the rollers 2-4 oz moisture loss (even more if you live in an area with high humidity) a few "dips of the spoon" to taste Presto! one pound gone.
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Post by rosemary on Oct 10, 2007 11:28:48 GMT -5
I use between 1 and 2kg of ingredients each time. I have weighed what goes in and what comes out very carefully several times... I am a scientist and do not think I am making a mistake... but if other people don't experience such losses when doing the same, then I would really like to know what I am doing wrong, because we are developing this to help a group of local indigenous people who produce their own cacau, and I don't want to give them the wrong information. I am doing this with my own home produced cocoa in Costa Rica, so maybe my cocoa is wetter than it should be???
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Post by Alchemist on Oct 10, 2007 14:06:30 GMT -5
I could see 30% lost from raw ingredients to final, depending on your recipe, but you specifically mention what goes into the Melanger. So, you are putting in 2-4 lbs (let's call it 3) and loosing 1 lb? I generally lose 6-8 oz in residue, but never a pound. I also don't think it is moisture. The chocolate would seize if it contained that much moisture. Mostly, I don't know what to tell you. Your best way to tell IMO would be to weight your Melanger bowl with the rollers empty and with ingredients before and after refining. Between those 4 numbers you can tell where the lost weight is.
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